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  1. #11
    Senior Member cmoulder's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rweb82 View Post
    DH orders all of its fabric from Ripstop By The Roll, and HyperD is one of their brands. the Hexon brand is made for Dutchware and is not used by DH.
    Good to know!
    Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter (not me... the great Cam Honan of OZ)
    “If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” ~ Gen. George S Patton

  2. #12
    Senior Member
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    As a rough guide:

    Most of the parachute nylon is 1.9 ounces- as others mentioned though doing the three panel construction really alters the feel.

    As far as length and width... it's fine (and true) to say it's very personal but you do need to start somewhere.
    10' is a good minimum for a 'camping hammock' (vs a pocket/travel hammock like the eno/grand truck/etc.

    10' will feel longer than 9', 11' will feel that much longer. The longer the hammock the less dramatic angle you will need (relative to the RL).
    A standard with is about 56" inches.
    A Wide hammock is about 66" inches.
    The WIDER the hammock, the more room you have to get more angle, and in theory get 'flatter'. The downside is you can have too much fabric that is 'unused' and can flop over onto you.

    To put that together into a widely generalized starting place:
    For an average american male likely to seek out a camping hammock you're looking at roughly 5'10" and 200lbs. Likely you're also in your 30's or beyond. When you're about 20- you can sleep on a pile of construction debris and bounce up feeling decent... that's why the ENO's work out great for college age kids. As you get older and need 'more' you want to switch over to what we call a camping hammock.

    At 10' wide, most feel they need a wide hammock.
    At 11' wide, most feel they can use a standard width hammock.

    Picture a half pipe for skateboarding- the longer the hammock- the longer the flat area is at the base of the pipe. That's where you sleep. By sleeping on an angle (finding the diagonal) you can sleep across that flat area more easily. If you try to shove yourself into a diagonal lay in a short hammock- you're going to get forced back to the center by the sides of the hammock as the small hammock creates a 'half banana' rather than a half pipe.

    The 9' hammocks tend to produce that 'banana' or sitting up in line lay for lounging. Basically the radius of the half pipe is too tight for you to get flat.
    As you get longer- the size of the half pipe increases, the center not only flattens out and also opens up (as far as tension on the fabric on the sides).
    With less tension on the fabric along the sides - you can increase your diagonal- and use wider fabrics more comfortably.
    If you start to get too extreme with your lay angle relative to the Ridgeline- then you will start to struggle with Underquilt fit and tarp coverage... so like all things you need to find a balance.

    So where to start?
    If you're coming from an ENO type hammock- I think 11' x standard width is a good place to start, even if it's a bit longer than you need- you won't have too much excess fabric on the sides to deal with. You'll get the flatter lay without the claustrophobia. It will also prevent you from going too crazy on the angle and reduce the chance you'll struggle with UQ and tarp fit.

    If you're coming from a Grand Trunk Nano type and it's close but not quite there- a 10' long XL width may be the little extra you needed- and the width gives you more diagonal to play with while keeping tarp size a little smaller.

    As far as fabric: https://ripstopbytheroll.zendesk.com...mparison-Chart

    This is Ripstop By the Roll's fabric chart. The '1.0, 1.6, 1.9 etc) refers to ounces per square yard... a better measure of how much 'stuff' is used than denier or other metrics. The heavier the yarn (denier) the heavier the finished fabric, but there are other factors beyond denier. With out getting to in the weeds- Material used (regardless of denier) to produce a square yard is probably the easier one to pay attention to. You can use a heavy thread but a loose weave, or a fine thread and a tight weave... you can add ripstop or support grids in 4 way, 6 way, diamond and others... all confusing for a newbie. If you just think of it as how much stuff per yard- then you can think of it more easily.


    Fabric Weight Limit
    1.0 HyperD 200 lbs
    1.0 Monolite 200 lbs
    1.1 Ripstop 200 lbs
    1.3 MTN XL Hybrid 275 lbs
    1.6 outdoorINK 300 lbs
    1.6 HyperD 300 lbs
    1.9 Ripstop Nylon 350 lbs
    1.8 Airwave 350 lbs
    1.7 MTN Hybrid 400 lbs
    2.2 Hex 70 400 lbs

    While also highly subjective here is a rough starting point:
    IF you like a firm mattress- you'll like roughly half of the weight rating as a rough guide. (IE- a 1.9 ounce rated to 350- would be nice and firm for a 175lb user (350lbs x .5= 175lbs).
    If you like a soft mattress- you'll like roughly 2/3-3/4 of the weight rating as a rough guide. (IE- That same 175lb-200lb user would like a 1.6 ounce fabric or 1.3 hybrid (300lbs x .75=200lbs)
    If you're looking to push the weight- don't be afraid to go right up to those limits. Technically these are 'comfort' ratings, rather than purely structural ratings.

    That said- as you push down into the 150lb or user weight... some folks seem to inversely prefer heavier fabrics. They simply don't weigh enough to 'sink/deform' the fabric quite as dramatically so sometimes tend to find they enjoy a much firmer fabric...
    IE- my 125lb wife (likes a firm mattress) and myself at 230lbs (likes to push weight and softness) could easily both enjoy the MTN hybrid 1.3 fabric. Did anyone mention this is highly subjective, often counterintuitive and occasionally baffling?

    The other factor is 'hand'- which is the feel of the fabric on your hand. A worn cotton shirt would have a very soft hand, a stiff duck cotton carhart overall would have a very stiff hand.
    Softer fabrics have adjectives like "Silky, smooth, cool, but also flimsy, plasticy, cheap"
    Firmer fabrics have adjectives like "Firm, supportive, solid, but also rough, hard, rigid/stiff"
    That is positive and negative qualities respectively. All things in balance...

    The MOST COMMON fabric to start with in cottage gear is 1.6. As a quick circle back to what that can mean once you're in a fabric weight ballpark:

    Hyper D 1.6 (RBTR) is the softest, silkiest hand in that weight. It is more stretchy and falls on the 'soft matress end"
    1.7 MTN Hybrid (RBTR) is the firmest, with a slightly rough hand some appreciate as it gives you a little grip. It is not stretchy, supports 'above it's weight class', and falls on the firm mattress end.
    Hexon 1.6 (Dutchware) or Dreamtex (Warbonnet) falls in between these two with a balance of support, softness, decent feel.

    They are all technically 1.6 ounce per yard (ish) fabrics, with a multi-directional reinforcement weave (ripstop grid) that some call 4-way, 6-way, or 8 way... so call it whatever you want.
    Plain ripstop runs side to side and up/down. HyperD runs diagonally only, Hexon, dreamtex, and MTN Hybrid runs side to side,up/down, and diagonal. I've heard it called six way or eight way ripstop.

    And 1.3 MTN Hybrid (since it also punches above it's weight) would also fall within that family as a good weight saving version of 1.6 fabrics.
    The "Hybrid" refers to the use of two different deniers of yarn being used to create the fabric... another point in the 'denier doesn't matter' argument.

    Plain Ripstop 1.1 and 1.9 fall in the budget category-this is general purpose ripstop that is used in a variety of outdoor applications. Volume and simple weaves keep this affordable and this is the ripstop nylon everyone is familiar with. That said- if you're shopping for a cottage hammock, probably better to simply spring for the better (hammock specific) fabrics. At roughly $10-20 of material cost- you're paying for labor so springing for the 'premium' fabric isn't what breaks the bank. That said- you can run up to Jo-ann or other fabric stores and more readily try out a generic nylon so they are very popular for DIY, try-out, or prototype hammocks. They are also great fabrics for making a batch for a youth group or casual use model that might get beat up a bit.

    By that same token- a Hex 70 or Hexon 2.4 can make a good hammock for the kids/pets to goof around in without fear they will tear through it.


    At the end of the day- trust the vendor you work with and put your efforts into researching that.
    ALL of the cottage vendors you will find here are good people who care more about getting you what you want than they care about making a sale. I'm not saying you should waste their time, but spending a little time with you is built into the biz model and the pricing. ON the flip side- many cottage folks prefer to give you a little advice so you are happy. Happy customers don't return bad choices or complain about vendors because the customer messed up.

    Since hammock fabric and design can be so personal... a cottage guy doesn't really want you jumping in the wrong model and you having a bad experience as a result. You ordering the best vanilla ice cream in the world when you prefer chocolate and secretly love strawberry but didn't get it because you were afraid to ask means everyone loses. Try to sort out who sells the best flavor you like. Sometimes that might be Dutch... since hexon is probably the best high end vanilla fabric out there- and there is nothing wrong with an amazing vanilla. But sometimes it might be DreamHammock with a silky chocolate HyperD... or that Crazy Mountain Hybrid ben and jerry style mashup that some specialty vendor sells.

    Do some research and narrow things down- but when you're stuck on that final few inches of length, width, or fabric selection- trust your vendor.

  3. #13
    Senior Member Rolloff's Avatar
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    Just to throw another crook in the neck...Currently using a 10.5' DH Freebird. I'm 5'6" and The Smurfs can make you anything you wish in that order.
    Because I hike and can use the lighter weight fabics, I do so.

    I am a satisfied return Dream Hammock customer.
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  4. #14
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    Just Bill - Your post could not have been a more concise guide on how a newbie should go about navigating this minefield of uncertainty.

    It should be at the top of this Forum in red - labeled
    "All Newbies Read Me"

    THX

  5. #15
    Senior Member
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    My first hammock was a Grand Trunk Ultralight. It was great; loved it. Then I 'upgraded' to a wider ENO DoubleNest. It was okay,
    but I hated the floppy material of the extra width. And, the seams that create the three panels were uncomfortable.

    I don't have experience with Dream Hammocks, but recently, I bought a $25 11' (standard width) from RBTR. It is night & day. They have only a few left (two color choices: hot pink, olive yellow).

    When I first started hammocking, I wasn't sure which would be more comfortable to me (5'4"): more length or more width. As everyone has said, it's a personal choice. Just Bill's post is worth reading a few times.

    Good luck!
    Find your inner hammock.

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by cap624 View Post
    My first hammock was a Grand Trunk Ultralight. It was great; loved it. Then I 'upgraded' to a wider ENO DoubleNest. It was okay,
    but I hated the floppy material of the extra width. And, the seams that create the three panels were uncomfortable.
    The wings on my Eno doublewide made no difference in the comfort level and were just flapping in the wind so I cut both 8" wings. Never missed them - but 9' was still too short.

    Thanks for the heads up on the 11' RBTR - I may have to look into it.

  7. #17
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    In the meantime, I repurpose the 9' Eno, butchered it to an inch of its life to replicate a 10' hammock. For all intents and purposes, it was a success and will be perfectly usable (as well as remarkably comfortable) until I step up to the plate and order a big boy hammock!

    Again - THX for all the input.

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